1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for implementing a unified model for integration systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for using a unified model for expressing an application in a dataflow diagram without artificial boundaries that, in turn, allows for greater application optimization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applications in the integration world are typically distinguished in categories such as Batch, Transactional and Continuous. Batch Integration Applications (IA) are mostly used where a new integrated solution replaces obsolete custom-built disparate applications and migration of the existing data is required. Transactional IA emerged mainly in the form of Business Process Management (BPM), where various applications implement a business process by exchanging requests and replies with each other under transaction guarantees. And, continuous IAs are emerging applications in the decision support domain. Complex Event Processing (CEP), Event Driven Architecture (EDA), Real-time Data Mining & Knowledge Extraction, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) are all examples of continuous applications that continuously process time sequenced data from disparate applications to provide better understanding of the data that flows in the organization.
Dominant technologies in the world of enterprise integration are ETL (Extract, Transform, Load), EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and EII (Enterprise Information Integration). Each of these technologies has advantages and disadvantages compared to the others and, therefore, none of these technologies prevails. Although these technologies have different capabilities, they still share many concepts and components, and in many times one technology may be used instead of the other.
An SQL (Select Query Language) model is the model behind EII systems that relational databases are based on. This model expressed in SQL is transformed into a dataflow tree directed graph. The graph vertices are set-operators and data sets flow between the operators as soon as they are available. The model behind ETL systems is also a dataflow model that is similar to SQL model although this model can express any directed acyclic graph rather than just tree graphs. The model behind EAI systems is the workflow model. The model can be expressed in BPEL and represent directed acyclic graphs where vertices are activities that are executed once on the incoming data.
A challenge found is that existing art has artificial distinctions that produce substantial redundancy. In addition, existing art does not provide a solution for continuous applications. Another challenge found is that each of the existing models has disadvantages compared to the other models and, therefore, selecting a system and model to use for designing an application may not always be clear to a solutions architect. In addition, many solutions may not be accomplished using existing models because of their disadvantages. As a result, a solutions architect may require a custom solution that is both expensive to develop and maintain. Furthermore, custom solutions are typically lower quality because the packaged software undergoes more rigorous testing.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method that uses a unified model that encompasses the advantages of existing system models for expressing applications.